1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for disposing of organic waste materials using microorganisms, and a use of the waste materials processed by this disposal method. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for disposing of organic waste materials; methods for accelerating the growth of plants, for destroying or repelling insect pests, for improving the soil, for deodorizing unpleasant odors and for improving water, using the waste materials processed by the disposal method; and compositions for use in these methods.
2. Related Art
One of the problems facing society is how to efficiently dispose of organic wastes and sometimes to effectively utilize these wastes once they have been disposed.
For instance, liquid waste discharged in a process of alcohol production has been utilized as livestock feed or an organic fertilizer put on fields. However, this liquid waste deteriorates quickly, so that its utilization is limited. In addition, when this liquid waste flows into rivers, the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) increases drastically, threatening the ecosystem of the rivers with destruction. Furthermore, since the liquid waste has potent reducing power, there is a possibility that soil and underground water are polluted when the liquid waste permeates the soil. For these reasons, it is the present situation that the liquid waste is, in most cases, handled and disposed as industrial waste, not used efficiently.
An effective method for disposing of the above liquid waste has not been found so far. Because the liquid waste discharged in the process of alcohol production contains organic acids, it exhibits high acidity at the outset of discharge. The liquid waste is however alkalized swiftly as the oxidization thereof proceeds. This alkalization brings about a rapid increase of anaerobic putrefying bacteria such as butyric acid bacteria. As a result, the liquid waste produces extremely strong unpleasant odors. Furthermore, since the protein and the amino acid contents of this liquid waste are extremely high, large quantities of hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, mercaptan and the like are produced in the degenerating process of the liquid waste. It has been said that an unpleasant odor released from a mixture of the above compounds produced and acetic acid has a nature of the worst kind.
In general, the liquid waste discharged in the process of alcohol production is alkalized, specifically to a pH of 8 or more. Under such conditions, ordinary microorganisms cannot be active. For this reason, it cannot be expected that the liquid waste is degraded by spontaneous microorganisms. The liquid waste thus produces unpleasant odors over a long period of time.
In addition to a method for disposing of the liquid waste discharged in the process of alcohol production, it is also desired to devise a method for disposing of organic waste materials such as raw garbage produced by households or eating establishments, wastes produced in the processing of agricultural or marine products, excrements of domestic animals and sewage.
Since the above organic waste materials contain a large amount of water, it is necessary to feed a large quantity of air into them or to agitate them frequently in order to decompose them aerobically. When the wastes are not decomposed aerobically, harmful fermentation proceeds and produces unpleasant odors. However, the above operation for causing the aerobic decomposition requires an installation for the treatment and also increases the running cost.